Episode 30: Doug's labyrinth

Last week I promised you a bloody hell of a Halloween episode. Here it is.

If you loved Pan's Labyrinth as much as I did; if you're a true dweeb who is anxiously hoping for a Hellboy 3; if "Hush" was your favorite episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you're definitely going to want to listen to this, my 30th episode and my inaugural celebration of all things spooky. Veteran creature actor Doug Jones —the Lon Chaney of the aughts—dishes not only on his super secret new project (which may or may not rhyme with Blender Man), but also reveals just how many hours he spends in a makeup chair... and what he's really like on Halloween. 

Also in our Halloween episode!

• How to mix up some fake blood that looks just like that of a Walking Dead zombie.
• How big-time filmmakers get away with making their movies as gory as they wish, no matter what the MPAA thinks it wants.
• And! Film director, resident horror specialist and super-duper guest co-host Jack Daniel Stanley gives us a peek into his next scary short, Suffer the Child, due out on DVXuser.com later this week.

Episode 29: Oval Office-to-go

What’s better than another Fame Fatale episode featuring three listener questions, answered? Another Fame Fatale episode featuring four listener questions, answered. This week I abstain from a VIP interview in order to give you all more of what you crave, and that’s me talking. 

You asked whether Elizabeth Berkley’s hopped-up jive performance on Dancing With the Stars makes her the next Mario Lopez. I found out.

You asked what would happen if Prince Jackson stopped chewing gum and suddenly decided he wanted to be a grownup. I looked into it.

You asked how Hollywood manages to shoot so many TV shows and movies featuring the same Oval Office. Turns out, you can get your very own Oval Office, and I’ll tell you how.

Plus! Secrets of blind items... and the return of Baby Vegas.

Have a listen!

Episode 28: 50 shades of buh-bye

Now that Charlie Hunnam has announced his departure from 50 Shades of Grey, my listeners are wondering what really spurred the Sons of Anarchy star to bail on what just might be the most lucrative bondage movie ever made. In this week’s episode of my Fame Fatale podcast, Hollywood casting director Bonnie Gillespie addresses that very question, theorizing on the most likely scenario behind the actor’s sudden aversion to sexy times. 

The mastermind behind Cricket Feet casting also mulls another big-budget mystery, this one in a cowl and tights. Why did John Krasinski reportedly read multiple times for the part of Captain America, only to have Chris Evans swoop in and take the role without a single audition? Because that happened, apparently. And Gillespie’s got us covered.

Plus! Loyal listener Charles from San Francisco wants to get his book optioned into a movie or TV.  I once had an article optioned and made into a movie. I dish on how the deal went down, and what you can do to make your dream come true, even if you don’t own a haunted box.

Episode 27: The young & the ruthless

Fun fact: The best pizza dough in Los Angeles just happens to take two days to make. That’s one day more than your average dough takes. The moral: Sometimes you just need an extra 24 hours to produce perfection. 

Ditto with podcasts. Episode 27 of the Fame Fatale is out on a Wednesday this week, and that’s because we wanted to make it extra crispy on the outside and super chewy on the inside. Just what kind of delicious toppings are we offering in this installment? Well: 

• Listener Kyle R. had a bunch of queries about the making of soap operas. So we got him a true daughter of daytime drama royalty: Lauralee Bell, veteran star of the Young and the Restless; Web entertainment innovator; writer; director of the comedic Web series Family Dinner; and occasional guest actress on your favorite TV shows such as Castle. If you think the kids from Glee work hard, wait til you hear what a typical day in the life of a soap star is like.  
• Do you assume that Breaking Bad offered up the best series finale of all time? You may be wrong. Listener DocTerv asked for my definitive list, and I’ve got it for you. I even let a few of you chime in as well. 
• Plus! Special guest co-host Nancie Clare, founder of Noir magazine; contributor to the Los Angeles Review of Books; and a ruthless expert on all things murder mystery, recommends the one crime series everybody should read. (And then I recommend a different one.) 

Have a listen!

Episode 26: B-list cooties!

Just how insecure is the average A-list celebrity? Assuming, of course, that the A-lister is really an A-lister? In my latest episode, celebrity wrangler Rita Tateel, that herder of very beautiful cats, dishes on how Hollywood truly defines a VIP in a city of so-called VIPs...and how celebrities tend to rank each other. (Hint: Too many B-listers can scare an A-lister away from an event. Cooties, you understand.) 

Also in this episode! 

• Music industry veteran, celeb social media expert and Nerd Out podcast co-host Lisa B. Jenkins takes issue with my fact-finding, and offers a spectacular blind item in the process. 
• I explain why Downton Abbey is taking three months to journey across the Atlantic to the United States. (It is so hard to find good help these days.) 
• And! I crush Lisa B. in the Cage Match arena. Or maybe I just shove her kind of hard. You be the judge.